**1.) Get to know your critters.
**When the guide points at a furry lump of rock, you want to know it’s an amazingly camouflaged hairy frogfish. Learning about the animals helps in many ways, from knowing what special adaptations your subject has to whether there may be another one nearby, or simply, with some of the stranger critters, which end is the head. It all helps in your images.
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**2.) Become a good muck diver.
**When you stir up the sand, it will either ruin your photos or ruin your evening as you are forced to Photoshop all the backscatter out. Also get in the habit of sharing subjects with your buddies, whether they have a camera or not. I love watching other people shooting critters while I wait my turn; it gives me ideas for my shots, and on many occasions, has allowed me to spot a mistake I was about to make.
**3.) Focus on the background
**In Lembeh, it’s a given that you’ll see fantastically photogenic subjects, so make your photographic focus the background. Blotchy sand isn’t the most complementary, so try to get the camera low to frame subjects against open water, for a clean black or blue backdrop. When that’s not possible, consider opening up the camera’s aperture to blur the background detail so the subject pops out. If all else fails, go for a super close-up, where the subject fills the entire frame.
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Looking for more information on Lembeh, Sulawesi? Check out these other great articles:
Divers Guide to Lembeh
Divers Day Off in Lembeh
Photo Gallery: Faces of Lembeh
